Police: Father tried to kill family by pouring hot oil on them, setting home on fire

NEW YORK — A man is in custody after police say he attempted to kill his entire family by pouring hot oil on them and setting their New York City home on fire Friday morning, according to WPIX.

The FDNY responded to the fast-moving fire at an apartment building near the intersection of East 236 Street and Furman Avenue in the Bronx just after 10:30 a.m.

When they arrived, they found several family members with burns to their bodies, police said.

Police say the 41-year-old man – who officials had not identified as of Friday afternoon – got into an argument with his 19-year-old daughter and poured the hot oil on her. She was holding her 2-month-old son. Both sustained burns.

The man also threw oil on his 18-year-old son, police say, then ran to another part of the fifth-floor apartment and threw hot oil on his mother, who is in her 60s, and his 87-year-old grandmother.

Investigators believe he then set fire to a couch and used it to trap the family inside.

His daughter, son and grandson were able to escape the fire and were rescued by neighbors who described their skin as burning off.

"[The baby] His back is burned from his neck, down," one neighbor said through tears.

The suspect attempted to flee, but was taken down by neighbors and held until police arrive.

The mother and grandmother were rescued from the building and all were transported to the hospital where they are in stable condition.

The man was taken into custody, police said.

The man's son told WPIX that his father was down on his luck and could not find a job.